49ers to welcome back Terrell Owens as honorary captain Sunday

Known as "The Catch II," San Francisco 49ers' Terrell Owens catches a Steve Young 25-yard pass for a touchdown to beat the Green Bay Packers 30-27 in the wild card playoff game at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, Calif., January 1999. (Dan Rosenstrauch/Staff Archives)

SANTA CLARA -- A decade after last playing at Candlestick Park on his 30th birthday, Terrell Owens will return Sunday as the 49ers' honorary game captain.

Owens, the 49ers' second-most prolific receiver all-time behind Jerry Rice, will be on hand to commemorate his January 1999 playoff heroics as part of the team's "Farewell Candlestick" campaign.

Owens played for the 49ers from 1996-2003 before a convoluted trade that sent him to the Philadelphia Eagles for two seasons. He last played in 2010 with the Cincinnati Bengals. His other career stops were with the Dallas Cowboys (2006-08) and Buffalo Bills (2009).

A six-time Pro Bowler, Owens ranks second in the 49ers record book for receptions (592), receiving yards (8,572), 100-yard receiving games (25), 1,000-yard receiving seasons (5) and receiving touchdowns (81). His 15,934 career receiving yards rank second in NFL history behind Rice (22,895), and his 153 touchdown catches are third behind Rice (197) and Randy Moss (156).

In what's called "The Catch II" in 49ers lore, Owens snagged a 25-yard touchdown pass from Steve Young to defeat the Green Bay Packers 30-27 in a Jan. 3, 1999 NFC wild-card playoff game. Owens turns 40 on Dec. 7.